Hello everyone, Myself Namneet Singh from J&K. This was my third attempt. My optional is Public administration. I got 259 (125+134) which is one of the highest considering how the subject is grilled this year. Here i’ll share my strategy for Public administration on how you can maximise your strength in the subject. Also, i’ll be sharing my strategy for Prelims and GS.
Name- Namneet Singh PT- Marks:- 173 Date and Session- 19/4/22 (Morning) Board- Smita Nagraj Optional- Pub ad Hobbies- Travelling , Cricket, Reading Newspaper
Utility of Mocks- Haven’t given any mock due to personal reasons, so won’t be able to tell.
Chairman
1-What are you doing since your graduation?
2-If you’ll have to compare your state in terms of similar strengths and weaknesses, with which state would you compare it with and reasons for the same.
3-What are the relative strengths of your state as compared to other states where it had performed well.
4-Which state according to you in India is best in terms of socio-economic indicators? And what should we learn from it?
4-Do you think that J&K should be granted the statehood. (Detailed discussion on that).
M-1
1-Tell me about Family Planning. 2-Why is it a failure? 3-One district one Medical institution- Benefits of this? 4-Palliative care?
M2
1-What do you understand by Jugaad? 2-Tell me examples of Jugaad? 3-Jugaad in Healthcare? 4-Fast pace of building medical institutions. Do we need to do that? 5-What are the problems of fast development of these medical institutions? How do you think that the quality will be affected? 6-Have you heard some news about Twitter? 7-Why there are so many mergers and acquisitions in corporate?
M-3
1-Which newspaper do you read? 2-Who is the editor of this newspaper? 3-Difference between Jammu and Kashmir? 4-Perceptible Changes after repeal of Article 370 and 35-A? 5- What do you understand by Aatamnirbhar Bharat? 6- Is there any restrictions on imports? If yes, should we have them?
M-4
1-Have you heard about Manoj Pande? 2-What’s so special about him? 3-Since Officer from engineer corps can be appointed as Army Chief, why don’t we appoint IPS or IRS officers as Cabinet Secretary? 4-Why Jammu & Kashmir has so much of area but very less population? 5- If made Chief secretary, which four industries would you focus on? 6-UNSC resolution on Kashmir? 7- Should we have a plebiscite? 8- What is the most embarrassing moment of your life?
Prelims Preparation Strategy by Namneet Singh UPSC Topper
Hello everyone, as most of you guys must be writing prelims on 5th of June. There must be those who have not found their name in the final list of 2021. As you guys have already know that the time between the final results and the prelims is very less due to the reason that the whole cycle of this civil services exam has been disturbed by the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent postponement of prelims in the last two years.
So at this time, my advice to all of you guys would be to not to study anything new or even pick up anything static. Stop practising mocks as a low score in those mocks may downgrade your morale at this crucial hour.
Now the time is not to Study but to move yourself into that zone of facing the pressure of exam hall in those two hours. Trust me, of those 100 questions you must have studied at least 80 to 90 questions.
You just need to believe in yourself and all the hard work that you have put up in last few months.
Try to increase your attempt as the randomness in the question paper have increased. In last two days try to eat well and sleep well.
In between the two papers of GS and CSAT, don’t engage yourself in finding out the answers of GS paper (you can postpone this to At least till evening), rather than that you should have a light snack or something to improve your appetite.
In the end, I wish all of you a very best of luck and may all of you comes out with flying colours.
CSAT Preparation Strategy by Namneet Singh UPSC Topper
Last minute tips for CSAT
As you all know, CSAT has become a silent killer since last few years (also a major reason for such huge decline in minimum cutoff marks), it has become so important to emphasise and practice CSAT as equally as GS.
Tips
Attempt maths and reasoning questions in first hour as they have high accuracy and can fetch you good marks.
However, one can never depend entirely on maths and reasoning, so you need to attempt few questions from Comprehension also.
My advice- Read and re-read the passages multiple times (especially the short ones) use elimination technique and you will come to closest two options. At that stage use your intuition to mark the answer.
PS – There can be multiple correct answers to one question in CSAT ( as mentioned in recently released answer key of CSP-2021).
Your attempt must be above 50 (mine was 65). No doubt, there are chances of more questions getting wrong but you’ll have to take risks in exam like this where no one is sure of the answers (Example- variability in the keys of multiple institutions vis-a-vis UPSC’s official key).
Practice last 3-4 years question paper of CSAT. Analyse the type of maths and reasoning questions being asked (themes) and try to learn few tricks for them. Example- Number system, row arrangement, syllogism etc.
Ultimate weapon- Your faith in yourself. Remember you’ll just have to score 66 marks but at the same time you must aim for 100+. Never let a qualifying paper to waste your attempt and whole year.
Prelims Wishes to Students by Namneet Singh UPSC Topper
All the very best to all those who are appearing tomorrow for prelims. As many of you might be having second thoughts like if you are prepared enough or not or if you should skip the attempt. So let me tell you one thing, no one is fully prepared in this exam yet you go and write this exam and this is the story of every topper.
Today you are an aspirant, tomorrow if few things works for you, you’ll be in the list. You only need one thing in this exam and that is self-confidence. You must carry it with you inside the exam hall and you’ll come out with flying colours.
Few tips-
1-Read the entire question fully before eliminating any options.
2-Look for the words “not correct” and mark your answers accordingly.
3-Try to find similar and contradictory statements. By this you can reach to your answers.
4-Try to look for extreme words like only, always, absolutely etc. (They are generally wrong)
5-In questions where you think that answer should be D (In questions with 4-6 statements) , follow reverse thinking approach (even one wrong statement can help you to reach the final answer) . So look for that wrong statement.
6- Remember that the beauty of prelims is that the answer is right in front of you. You just need to find that out by using your reasoning, analytical ability and your knowledge.
7-Try to divide your attempt into three iterations.
8- Try to attempt 80+ with calculative guess as randomness in prelims have increased.
In the end, wish you all a very best of luck. May all your hard-work and dedication pays you off.
Regards- Namneet Singh
Prelims 2022 Questions analysis by Namneet Singh UPSC Topper
My Take on prelims
GS
1-Relatively tougher than last year. 2-Entirely new format of questions (One pair, two pair etc- Elimination tricks didn’t helped) 3-Less number of questions on hardcore polity. (Which is known as saviour of aspirant) 4- Very tricky questions and hardcore knowledge of facts was required.
CSAT 1-English was almost similar. 2-Quant was lengthy (Very lengthy). 3-Reasoning was fine.
Crux- Many aspirant may failed to clear CSAT Cutoff.
Cutoff- Will be lower than last year or similar to last year but won’t increase as vacancies are more and difficulty was more than last year.
Good luck Comrades.
Should You prepare for UPSC Mains after giving Prelims exam?
Anyone getting above 80 in UR category, start preparing for mains as you never know the difference between institute’s keys and official key. Your score may swing back and forth by upto 5-10 marks, so don’t waste your time.
Take a break for 1 or 2 more days then start. At least finish your optional and ethics in the next few days. If you’ll waste this time, its gonna cost heavily later on. So move accordingly.
Regards-Namneet Singh
Public Administration Optional Booklist by Namneet Singh UPSC Topper
Books I referred for Pub ad
Paper-1
A-Administrative thinkers by Prasad and Prasad. B-Public administration book by Aribam. C-Pavan Sir’s class Notes.
Additionally, Read 2nd ARC’s once and read their recommendations again and again.
Read newspaper holistically and try to connect the current developments with Paper-1 and Paper 2.
PS- Will be sharing detailed strategy for Mains-2022 soon.
Cutoff Prediction for UPSC 2022 Prelims by Namneet Singh UPSC Topper
My cutoff prediction
Factors while considering cutoff A- Increase in number of vacancies vis a vis previous year. B-Lengthy and Difficult Quant and reasoning in CSAT C-New pattern of MCQ’s like Pair form (Elimination becomes less effective)
Cutoff- 82-85 for UR (Adjust accordingly for reserve categories)
UPSC Mains Booklist by Namneet Singh UPSC Topper
A very basic and Concise resources that I referred to during my preparation.
**Basics NCERT
Read geography NCERT’s from 6th to 12th.
History 6th 7th 8th and 12th (all three parts)
Science 7th-10th
Economy- Class 11th (Indian Economic development)
Art and culture- Class 11th (An introduction to Fine arts)
Standard books
Polity- Laxmikant (At least revisions before prelims)
Sriram IAS booklet and Mrunal’s videos on Unacademy (Win 22 series)
Current Affairs
Vision’s IAS monthly magazine (Minimum last 12 months, can do upto last 18 months if have time)
Daily newspaper- Hindu or Indian Express
1 month Before prelims
Practice At least 40 mocks (you can download VisionIAS mocks from Freeupscmaterials website
Solve last 25 years of prelims paper
And 5 years of CSAT paper
Revise- PT 365 of vision for 2-2 times
UPSC CSE Preparation Strategy for fresher students by Namneet Singh UPSC Topper
To all the first timers, limit your resources to the minimum. In the first few tests, try reverse learning process i.e. first go through the answer formats and then try to write the answer in the given limited words. (Do this for first 2-3 tests only, don’t make it a habit).
Additionally, read Ansari’s sir last year test series model answers to improve your content as well as your knowledge about current affairs.
Initially, you guys can take a little bit more than three hours to complete your test but make sure that you are able to complete your test in three hours after giving 5 to 6 tests.
For quick revision, I would suggest you to go through Pawan Sir handwritten notes which can be easily availed in the market and comes handy in revising the whole syllabus in just 2 to 3 days.
Focus more on the important chapters for example, introduction, administrative thought, accountability and control, development dynamics and Personnel and financial management. Similarly shortlist important chapters from Paper 2 also.
In Public administration, the most intricate problem is to comprehend the question.
The answers to most of the questions in Public administration or almost on the similar lines with the usage of same content and theories over and again.
While writing answers, if questions are comprehended clearly, you may feel that you are writing same thing again and again especially in the mock test. That’s the beauty of Public administration, few words here and there and your answers are good to go.
Just focus on analysing the questions, try to understand the demand. Break the question into different parts. Try to write as much in points as u can. Use flowcharts and diagrams.
Last but not the least, follow post test discussion and content given to you thoroughly.
